Consider the following. Over the Easter weekend, this was the choice of events for runners in Kerry without traveling too far.
Kerry...Fri 3rd (6:30pm)...Good Friday Run...€25...
Kerry...Sat 4th (9:30am)...Tralee 5k parkrun...€free...Tralee Town Park...
Kerry...Sat 4th (2pm)...Ballybunion Half-Marathon & 10k...€10k €26.75 / Half €53.50...
Kerry...Sat 4th (1pm)...Kenmare Bridge 1 mile, 5k & 10k...5k €15 / 10k €20...info...
Kerry...Sun 5th (9:30am)...Banna 4 mile...€?...
Cork...Mon 6th (2pm)...Boherbue to Kiskeam 4 mile road race...€15...info...NW Cork...
Whatever about the physical ability of running several races in a few days, it is also very expensive.
Just looking at the results over the weekend, the numbers for Ballybunion, the Good Friday Run and Boherbue-Kiskeam were all down this year. It would seem as if the available pool of runners is being spread across an increasing number of events.
What conclusions can be drawn from this?
1) It's going to become more difficult for any event to grow and even staying at a steady number might be considered a success.
2) Any event with low numbers and high costs will probably be the first to go.
Thoughts?
While having a lot of races to choose from is a good thing the quality of the races is not always what it should be. I ran 6 races in Kerry last year. In the case of 3 out of the 6 the courses were not measured properly. Most were way over priced and not particularly well organised. Organisers standards appear to be dropping. The exception to these seem to be races that are organised athletic clubs and the BHAA in cork.
ReplyDeleteTheres definately more races in the Kerry area in the past 2 - 3 years which means that people are spoilt for choice & not travelling as much.I've seen posts on here in relation to Run the Kingdom events & while some points made are very valid & need to be addressed some are way over the top. I have no connection to the guy who owns RTK but look, its a new venture which will have its teething problems & at the end of the day if people dont want to run or have a problem with these events then dont show up,its as simple as that.The last poster was giving out about courses not being measured properly, I would imagine that he / she means they were short on distance as every race that I have run has been longer on my garmin. Measurements are known to be longer as the jones counter measures the shortest possible distance, corner to corner where as a runner with a garmin may run on either side or down the middle of the road.At this stage some people are complaining for the sake of it & in fairness it would be about time to give it a rest. We all run for various reasons, the races are being provided all over the county & as I said earlier, if you dont like it just dont show up but give the bitching a rest.I cant believe people on here giving out about gels not being available at the later stages of the Tralee marathon, can someone tell me a marathon runner that hasnt got their own tried & tested gels on them, I know I wouldnt take one from a table during a marathon anyway? I'm from the Tralee area & have supported races all over the county & beyond well before RTK surfaced, some good value & some not so good. I turn up to run the race & anything after that is secondary, if I need a shower I'll find out where I can get one or if its the Ballybunion, Dingle or Banna 10K I'll go for a swim (great race for a PB on a flat course by the way). It would be a shame not to see any race on the calendar for the following year so long may it continue.
ReplyDeletein the interest of other posters could you name the 3 events that you say were measured incorrectly as some people always go by their garmin which isn't correct. I know that the run in Farranfore St Stephens was more than the 5k advertised no excuses for what happened their and that event was organised by a running club.
ReplyDeleteI try and avoid races in Kerry as they all seem to have jumped on the gravy train and charge crazy entry fees.
OK. I didn't want to be unfair to race organisers but if the moderator of the site has no objections.
ReplyDeleteDingle 10k July 2014 - approx. 0.5 mile short.
Annascaul 10k 2014 is actually 10.35K but in fairness to the organisers they tell you this as you enter online. However why not just set the course up for the right distance.
Ballybunion 10K 2015 was 150m short. The race organisers admitted this was because the Gardaí moved the finish line late in the day. It was an out & back course so it could have been rectified.
Like the second poster I turn up to run and have been doing so for over 20 years. I have never complained about gels, refreshments etc. and do not agree with most of the criticism I see here but I do think race organisers need to put the focus back onto the race itself i.e. the course, traffic plans etc.
From Tralee, did my first marathon dublin 2003 cost me a the price of a small holiday to do same. Had to travel fair distances to run any race which meant being away from the family for an entire day to run 5k or 10k which was difficult.The past two or three years i havent hardly had to leave the county and literally rolled down the hill to the start of the tralee marathon after sleeping in my own bed and I was home for lunchtime. There are loads of races but there is a vibrant running community in Kerry now that didnt exist five years ago, enough to sustain the present volume you'd imagine, but who knows; I think these things tend to run in cycles so im just enjoying it for the moment. Its made my life easier and am definitely saving when you take into account travel, the odd overnight etc. even if some of the races are a bit steep. No connection to RTK.
ReplyDelete